Christian Aid originated over 70 years ago in response to the need to alleviate the refugee crisis in Europe following the Second World War, and is still concerned with victims of conflict and disaster. Providing emergency relief in response to crises anywhere in the world continues to be a major part of the charity's work but nowadays it also works closely with trusted overseas partners, helping afflicted communities to move from poverty and food shortage to self sufficiency.

St. Andrew's, acting under the auspices of the Scarborough Christian Aid Committee, has supported Christian Aid financially for at least 45 years. Christian Aid Week, a national initiative held annually in May, is the main focus of fundraising by means of organised collections, donations and support of associated events. Additionally, a team of snooker players has earned significant sums in sponsorship by competing in the annual Scarborough Churches' Christian Aid Snooker Marathon.

St. Andrew's supports a number of charities. These include:

Feed the Minds

Feed the Minds is a small ecumenical Christian international development charity that supports the most marginalised individuals and communities in Africa and Asia, providing education through partnership organisations to promote independence and self reliance.

St. Andrew's supports the charity through fund raising events in association with the other Scarborough churches. These events include the Christmas card appeal, recent Strawberry Fayre, Book Fair and the forthcoming Christmas concert with Scarborough Concert Band.

Fairtrade

Fairtrade seeks to improve the livelihoods and working conditions of farmers and workers in developing countries. They primarily do this by working with companies to set standards for workers' rights, certifying products (through use of the FAIRTRADE mark), lobbying government and improving public awareness.

St. Andrew's is a Fairtrade church, with all refreshments served using Fairtrade coffee, tea, and sugar. Fairtrade orange juice is also available. There is a well stocked Traidcraft stall available every Friday at the Beacon Cafe, and after morning worship every Sunday. The ordering of Fairtrade products from the Traidcraft catalogue is encouraged, and there is a Fairtrade awareness event held annually during Fairtrade Fortnight.

Street Angels

Street Angels is a Christian organisation that aims to improve the safety of town and city centres late at night. They primarily do this by patrolling around in fluorescent jackets, providing assistance of various forms to any who need it. The initiative originally began in Halifax, but soon spread to around 130 communities across the U.K. (including Scarborough).

St. Andrew's' involvement with the charity began with a coffee morning where Brian Ward gave a talk on Scarborough Street Angels, Peter Ward (no relation), a member of St. Andrew's, was really impressed with the work that they were doing and wanted to help, but he also wanted to do more than just make a personal donation.

He spoke to members at St. Andrew's and asked if people would be prepared to donate £1 per month towards helping Street Angels on an ongoing basis. Many people were more than happy to help, and he started collecting the monthly donations from June 2010. The donations still continue, and St. Andrew's have so far collected over £4200 which has gone towards helping Scarborough Street Angels continue their valuable work.

Water Aid

Water Aid works in 28 countries across the globe to provide clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene, with the ultimate aim of making these things normal for everybody everywhere.

Approximately 12 years ago, we at St Andrew's chose to support Water Aid as part of our Lent challenge. The campaign at that time was 'Jars of Change for Jars of Water', which involved putting small change into a jam jar every day during Lent, thanking God for the access we had to clean water, while raising funds to make this a reality for all people. Since then we have been supporting Water Aid every Lent, and during the rest of the year too, which has resulted in regular contributions to the charity and lots of coin counting for us!